Secret Service stars Mark Stanley, a familiar face from Trigger Point and Happy Valley – and there’s a real-life romance behind his new role.
The new ITV drama, based on a book by Tom Bradby, follows MI6 agent Kate (Gemma Arterton) as she investigates a suspected Russian mole inside the UK government.
Mark Stanley plays Ryan Walker, a rising political star with his eyes on the top job. He’s charismatic, calculating… and firmly under suspicion.
But off-screen, there’s another dynamic at play: he shares the show with his long-term partner.
Mark Stanley and Rochenda Sandall star in Secret Service together
While Stanley plays Walker, Rochenda Sandall portrays his political advisor, Melissa Morris.
If their on-screen chemistry stands out, it’s not acting alone – they’ve been together for 18 years.
“We love each other. It’s wonderful. Truthfully, we love working together,” Sandall said during an appearance on The One Show.
“It’s nice that she is working for me in some sort of a way,” Stanley joked, before adding it was “great” to share scenes.
“We had some great days, didn’t we? You know, we’ve been together 18 years, so it’s like, you know, we split every penny down the middle from the moment that we met each other,” he said.
“You know, being picked up and ferried off to work and looking at each other doing very sort of intense and what we believe to be high calibre writing, directed by Oscar-winning directors and that kind of thing. Sometimes you do nothing but burst with pride.”
How did Mark Stanley and Rochenda Sandall meet?
Sandall revealed in an interview with The Guardian that she left home at 17 to pursue acting.
She landed a place at East 15 Acting School – where she met Stanley. They started dating in 2008 and have been together ever since.
They’ve largely kept their relationship private, though Secret Service isn’t their first collaboration. They’ve previously appeared together in Netflix’s Criminal and the BBC’s Love, Lies and Records.
Still, this is their biggest shared project to date.
“It’s a dream come true,” Sandall said on The One Show.
“And just for the team to facilitate it as well, we’re very grateful, very, very grateful every day.”
Stanley also joked: “Well, we’re breaking up after this show, this is just to plug it.”
What have Mark Stanley and Rochenda Sandall been in?
Stanley has quietly built one of the strongest CVs in British TV.
This year alone, he starred opposite Mia McKenna-Bruce in The Lady, the ITV drama about Jane Andrews, and appeared in Under Salt Marsh alongside Rafe Spall and Kelly Reilly.
In 2025, he had a key role in Adolescence, one of Netflix’s biggest hits.
He’s perhaps best known for playing Rob Hepworth in Happy Valley series 3, as well as roles in Trigger Point, The Bay, and Game of Thrones.
Sandall, meanwhile, broke through as Line of Duty villain Lisa McQueen. She’s also appeared in Small Axe, Doctor Who, and Hijack, and will return as Fi in Amandaland season 2.
Read more: Secret Service: Unpacking the ITV spy thriller’s huge twist and its ‘bleak’ ending
Secret Service is available to stream on ITVX now.
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